Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-01-14
Making Hard Wood Out of Soft.

Making Hard Wood Out of Soft.
A scheme, deemed entirely practica
bile, has at last been developed in Eng
land for making hard wood out of soft
by compression. We have already al
luded to this matter in these columns
and now refer to it again 70 recoro
the substantial progress which is being
made in it.
The London Eagincer says: Fol
the manufacture OF loom shuttles
lockwood has hitherto been very largely
used; but the price has become al
almost prohibitivc, and it has beer
found that, by the compression o
of cheaper classes of wood, a substitute
meeting all requirements can he ob
tanned. For CARRYING out this process
Sir Joseph Whitforth & Co.. of Man
chester, England, have recently com.
plcted powerful hydraulic press to b,
used i'll COMPRISING wood for loom
shuttles. This press consists of 4
strong cast-iron top and bottom, with
four steel colt mns and steel cylinder
with a large ram. In the center OF
this ram is fitted smaller ram fitting
into a die, which is placed on the TOP
of the large ram. The wood is put
into this die, and pressure Of II tons
per square inch is applied. The top
pressure block which fits the die is
then removed, and the small ram, ris-
ing, pushes the wood cut ut the top OF
the die"
The same exchange adds: "Thc
wood thus treated is made very dense
and uniform, and SO closc-graincd that
it is capable of taking very high fin
ish. For the manufacture of shuttlcs
it has been found as good as lockwood
and there is no doubt that II similar
process might be applied with advan-
tage to other branches of industry
where expensive hard woods have now
to be used"
There can be no doubt but that
wood prepared by some such method
will, before long, be employed very
generally in carriage building. On,
has only to read that portion of the
lecture by Mr.. ii. G. Sheppard, of New
Haven, Conn.,, referring to wood SINH
larly toughcned, to understand that a
remarkable future of the timber trade
will some time be opened up by some
cnterprising wOod-binder, who will
supply himself with the necessary ma
chinery, accompanied by tests. Mr.
Sheppard made the following proph
ecy. He said: al want now to show
you some | have here, which has been
so toughencd by new process that
you are not likely to recognize it
Here, first, is piece of whitewood
1t is thOugher than ordinary ash, and
yet whitewood is not considered q
tough wood. Here, again, is Il piece ol
ash that has been subjected to the
same process. believe the time will
come whom our carriage-poles will bt
manufactured out of wood that is to.
day considered very common and in.
ferior. This ash is toughened to a de-
gree you can hardly realize. The Sc
crct is this: 1t was toughencd by
steaming it, and then COMPRISING ii
endwise. believe it is per.
fectly practicable to make even car.
riage-pOles out of this same ordinary
poplar or whitewood by subjecting il
to this, for our high-grade white ash
and hickory are becoming very scarce
and, at the present rate of construction
they will soon be used up"
The above account of the Whitfortll
process and results already attained
gives promise of speedy realization
of Mr.. Sheppard's prophecy.